When The Owner Is An Entity - Commercial Title Searches 

10/21/2026 10:36 AM       Mark Goodman

One aspect of a title search is to confirm the rightful owner of the property. After all, if you follow through with a purchase and it turns out that an individual or entity did not have the legal right to sell the property, you’re going to have a major mess on your hands. 

Determining ownership tends to be much simpler when working with a residential property. The owners are likely living at the location and have been for some time. Matters can become a little more complex when the property is owned by a different individual, like a parent, grandparent or child, but overall it’s not usually very difficult to ensure you’re moving forward with the party who has the authority to complete the transaction. That’s not always the case with commercial transactions, and we explain why that is in today’s blog. 

The majority of commercial properties are owned in a different structure than residential property. Residential property is oftentimes held by a specific individual living on the property, whereas most commercial property is held by: 

• Limited liability corporations 

• Corporations 

• Partnerships 

• Trust 

We’ve covered why this ownership structure is advantageous in previous blogs, mainly because it creates a legal separation between the individual and the property, which helps to protect personal assets in the event of unexpected issues down the road. However, this structure makes it more challenging for title service agents and interested buyers to learn more about the property’s owner. That’s because a number of different things can happen to these structural formations that wouldn’t happen to an individual. For example, a title search will need to be comprehensive in order to: 

• See entity abbreviations 

• Uncover entity name changes 

• Distinguish between similarly named entities 

• Uncover prior names 

• Determine entity predecessors and mergers 

• Determine entity type conversions 

For example, it’s not uncommon for a business to undergo a name change, swap from an LLC to an S corp, merge with another company or take on a new partnership structure that requires a change to the current ownership structure. A title services company may be searching for title information related to multiple business partners, ever-changing LLCs or companies that no longer exist because they were bought out, merged or absorbed. It’s more time consuming, there’s more room for errors and the stakes are higher. 

At Commercial Partners, we understand how to explore a commercial property’s ownership structure and ensure there are no ownership issues or title problems that could delay or derail a purchase as closing day arrives. Complex ownership structures are advantageous for business purposes, but they create more work for buyers and their teams during a sale. We’re familiar with this process, so let us handle it and protect your best interests by effectively clearing the title ahead of closing. For more information about investigating and understanding a commercial property’s ownership structure as part of a commercial acquisition, reach out to the team at Commercial Partners today at (612) 337-2470.